昔日文章

（本報專題）每年踏入十月，街道、商場上不難看見南瓜、鬼怪的商品與裝飾，你又知不知道萬聖節其實與天主教的「諸聖節」及「追思已亡節」有關呢？為慶祝十一月一日的諸聖節，天主教聖瑪加利大幼稚園於十月三十一日，替學童及家長舉辦諸聖節宗教活動，小朋友及家長一同扮演聖人或「幫助我們的人」，及進行小遊戲，讓他們學習聖人的芳表，再於生活中實踐愛德。 當天早上，許多家長與小朋友穿著聖人服飾上學。他們多以親子裝登場，打扮為聖母、耶穌、該校主保聖瑪加利大，及聖方濟等聖人；有些父母亦與子女扮演「幫助我們的人」，如醫生、消防員、清潔工人等。當天校長陳紫雯打扮為在苦路中替耶穌抹去汗和血的韋羅尼加，她說提早在十月三十一日舉辦活動，希望幫助家長與小朋友預早準備並迎接諸聖節。 學習聖人德行 幫助社會弱小人士 聖人是跟隨基督的榜樣，在活動中，小朋友與家長輪流站到禮堂的台前介紹所扮演的聖人或人物。當中，許多媽媽都與女兒一同扮演聖母，她們都承諾學習聖母，多為人祈禱及幫助人，聆聽和相信天主的說話內容；亦有位扮演耶穌的小朋友牽著一隻「羊」，解釋說：「我們都是耶穌的羊。」小朋友與家長都分享各聖人的德行，並承諾要學習他們，步武基督。 在社會上，許多人都善用天主賜予的塔冷通，擔當不同崗位幫助他人。因此，在活動上，有些小朋友亦打扮成提著水槍的消防員、帶上廚師帽子的廚師，及拿著掃帚的清潔工等「幫助我們的人」，以答謝他們在社會上的貢獻。 老師亦在活動上播放歌曲及短片，介紹聖德蘭修女和聖方濟。扮演聖德蘭修女的朱婉珊主任則藉著歌曲，指出聖德蘭修女的愛德事跡，照顧露宿街頭、生病的小朋友、長者及成年人；獲「愛心小巨人」之稱，來勉勵小朋友學習聖德蘭修女，以愛心幫助弱小的人，在生活中仍善行，例如購買明愛獎券和作四旬期捐獻，幫助窮人。 在生活中實踐信仰 陳校長說，學校內有一些正在參與慕道班，或未有信仰的家長，活動可以讓他們認識聖人的德行，幫助小朋友在日常生活中實踐。 低孝班秦一信的懷孕媽媽翟卓玲回憶， 一信經常說要保護媽媽及肚子裡的胎兒，所以在構思扮演角色時，便與兒子商討扮演牧羊人，「像牧羊人照顧羊群般，保護媽媽及孩子。」而一信媽媽當天扮演聖母，她說在試穿衣服的時候，「一信立刻抱著我說： 『我要保護嬰兒、我要保護耶穌』。」 高孝班顧亦晞媽媽李思明說，兒子是次主動提出扮演耶穌，而讓媽媽扮聖母瑪利亞，「兒子解釋說『因為我想時時幫人祈禱；而你把我生下來，所以是聖母。』」 兩位媽媽和小朋友都已領洗，每星期都會一同到聖堂參與主日彌撒，及在睡覺前一起祈禱。一信的媽媽補充，希望從生活中， 教導兒子愛德和信德，例如「聽到朋友的媽媽生病，便與小朋友一起為此祈禱。」 向父母介紹聖人 為讓小朋友更認識聖人的芳表，幼稚園老師每月都會向學生介紹一位聖人，再讓他們輪流佩戴聖人襟章一星期。這些襟章的聖人有聖瑪加利大、聖母、耶穌、聖德蘭修女等，陳校長舉例，在教導聖方濟各時，會告訴小朋友「這是大自然的主保，你們都要學習珍惜和愛護環境。」 當小朋友扣上襟章，陳校長希望他們在生活中，也會記著要遵循該位聖人的德行； 而他們帶著襟章回到家裡，與非教友家長的溝通互動期間，亦可有福傳的作用。（吳） 

While many of you are excited to have fun on Halloween（萬聖節）on the 31st of October, few of you know much about All Saints' Day（諸聖節）and All Souls' Day （追思已亡節）held respectively on 1st and 2nd of November.  Traditionally, Christians come together to ask for God's blessing to protect them from evil on Halloween, to remind themselves to live as saints on All Saints' Day, and to offer prayers to the souls of the deceased in purgatory so that they can go to heaven. What does heaven actually look like?  Different religions have different theories about heaven. Judaism（猶太教） and Islam（伊斯蘭教）describe that there are seven levels of heaven, and the highest one is the place of ultimate joy where God and the most exalted angels live. For example, this holy place,“seventh heaven”（七重天）, was mentioned in the book entitled “The Jewish Synagogue”in 1658.  This same is to put them in remembrance of the seventh heaven, into which the Lord ascended from Mount Sinai.  Since the 18th century, the expression “seventh heaven”has been used figuratively by religious and non-religious people to refer to a state of supreme bliss. An example is found in a novel entitled“The Young Philosopher”written by Charlotte Smith, a British writer, in 1798.  She had been amazed,......carried to the seventh heaven by his eloquence.  Nowadays, this is mainly used in the phrase “in seventh heaven”to mean extremely happy.  Since he was offered a place by this prestigious school, he has been in seventh heaven（欣喜若狂；極其幸福）.    Glossary  Blessing  賜福 Souls  靈魂 Deceased  死者 Purgatory  煉獄 Exalted  最受尊崇 Religious  信奉宗教的 State  狀態 Bliss  幸福  

When you visit shopping malls or theme parks this week, you will see a lot of spooky decorations such as creepy cobwebs, grey skull masks and black balloons. In recent years, Halloween(萬聖節)events have become more popular among young people. Thus, some people think that the saying “the devil is in the detail” originated from Halloween traditions. However, this expression actually derives from another German proverb, “Der liebe Gott steckt im detail” (“God is in the detail”). The saying “God is in the detail” means that we have to pay attention to the details, which are important, if we want to make our task or plan successful. One day in future, when you are offered an employment contract, your parents might advise you, “Read carefully. The devil is in the detail.” In other words, the contract looks good, but the details may contain problematic terms that make the job less attractive and advantageous to you. This saying can appear in some other patterns: The devil is in the details. ( 魔鬼就在細節裏。) The devil lies in the detail. One of its earliest English versions appeared in a book entitled “The Community of Europe” written by a British journalist, Richard Mayne, in 1963: “On the principle that ‘the devil is in the details’, what should have been a merely formal occasion developed into a debate about the Community’s official languages ....” Some of you may wish to experience a scary Halloween on 31st October. However, it is also important to remember all holy saints on All Saints Day(諸聖節)(1st November) and to pray for the souls of the dead on All Souls’ Day(追思已亡節)(2nd November).  Glossary Spooky 詭異的 Creepy 令人毛骨悚然的 Employment contract 僱傭合約 Terms 條款 Advantageous 有利 Scary 可怕的 Remember 銘記 Souls 靈魂